


Worth It

by Humblefun



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Family, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-29 18:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11446128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Humblefun/pseuds/Humblefun
Summary: Late night after a mission





	Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> This was something I wrote for my friend redrobin-detective over on Tumblr. Inspired by one of her posts. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

Bruce was finally on the way upstairs from the cave. He’d sent Dick and Tim up hours ago, and Jason had followed them up shortly after. Damian had stayed home from patrol with a cold and Cassandra had elected to stay behind as well to make sure he stayed where he was supposed to.

The mission had gone well enough, but as always there had been some scares, and as always it left Bruce a little frayed around the edges. His mission had started with the objective of making sure he would never have to feel like he had when his parents were killed. It had evolved into making sure no one else would either, but as the years went on and he looked back onto all that had happened, it seemed as if he was falling short.

How many times had he gotten hurt? How many times had his children or Stephanie? Everything that had happened to Jason, to Barbara. His mission seemed to have done more harm than good.

He stepped out from the elevator and into the manor, trying to put the thoughts out of his mind. The kids, sans Damian, all had their apartments, but he knew that they’d probably decided to stay the night. They’d looked exhausted when they’d left him to do his work on the cave computer. He doubted any of them would have wanted to take the trek into the city.

His first stop was the kitchen. He opened the fridge and squinted against the light before reaching in for the milk. He set it down on the counter next to the stove before walking over to one of the cabinets and pulling out a pot. He set it on top one of the burners and turned the stove on. Next came the milk, from chocolate from the pantry and he was on his way to having hot chocolate.

Usually, he’d let Alfred take care of this part, but he could remember how to make it, and it was well past three in the morning. Alfred would be asleep. When he finished he divided the liquid among two cups and then cleaned up his mess. He put the milk back in the fridge, and he grabbed both of the mugs and headed for the steps.

It was just as silent upstairs as it was the floor below, but Bruce couldn’t miss the faint glow coming from under Tim’s door. The corner of his mouth tipped upward, and he nudged the door open. The TV was running on a low volume, and Tim was in his bed, peering at his laptop screen.

He looked up with bleary eyes when Bruce walked further into the room before taking notice of the cup. A hopeful look crossed his face, and he reached out for it. Bruce handed it to him before taking up residence in the armchair next to Tim’s bed.

Tim took a sip, expecting bitterness and instead got a mouthful of chocolate. He deflated a little but continued drinking nonetheless. Bruce smiled and took a drink of his own. He wasn’t about to enable Tim’s sleepless nights.

They sat there in silence as they enjoyed their drinks. Tim would pause every few seconds to continue working on his laptop, but as he got closer to the bottom of the mug, those seconds became minutes, and eventually, he shut the computer down. He finished the last of the chocolate and set the cup down on his bedside table. Bruce stood from the armchair and ruffled Tim’s hair.

“Get some sleep, kiddo.”

Tim hummed an affirmative and got comfortable in his bed, pulling the blankets up close to his chin. Bruce shut off the TV and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He headed over to Jason’s room next and opened the door.

Jason was sprawled out, sound asleep. Bruce allowed himself a moment to watch the rise and fall of his chest to assure himself that yes, Jason was alive before closing the door once more and continuing down the hallway. He didn’t want to run the risk of waking him. This had been the first time Jason had stayed at the manor in weeks; he wanted him to get some rest.

Dick’s door wasn’t even all the way closed, and as he got closer, Bruce could hear snoring from inside. He peered inside, saw the shock of dark hair against the pillows and nodded to himself. Dick knew he was home, but out of habit Bruce stepped into the room and moved Dick’s sweater from the bedpost and draped it over the desk chair. He turned around to leave the room and saw Dick staring at him with a sleepy smile.

“Night, B.”

“Night, chum.”

He was almost sure Cassandra had gone to her room, and when he cracked open her door, he was right. She turned her gaze away from the television and gave him a smile and a wave.

“I’m not tired,” she said.

He laughed silently.

“If you’re sure,” he replied with a smile of his own before closing the door again.

Damian’s door opened before he could even reach the handle and then Damian was in front of him, wearing an exhausted expression. Bruce bent down and picked him up. Damian went without protest.

His forehead was warm where he tucked it against Bruce’s neck, and he fell back asleep almost instantly. Bruce carried him to the other side of the hall to his room. He pushed the door open with his foot and walked in towards the bed. He held Damian with one arm while pulling the blankets back and setting him down. Damian shifted a little but didn't wake a second time. Bruce brushed the hair back from his face and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Thoughts from earlier came back as he got into bed and laid his head down on the pillow. Not everything he had done as Batman had turned out for good. A fair bit of things had turned out for the bad, but knowing at the end of the night he could come home to his family safe and sound? That’s what made it worth it.


End file.
